Trump 2.0, Redivivus
(This is a revision of a previous post, with some new material – as the theme suggests, it’s difficult to keep up with the Trump and his administration…)
Say what you like about Donald Trump, but he’s energetic for a man pushing 80, to put it mildly. Unlike his soporific predecessor, he seems in full control of his mind, and knows what that mind intends. His flurry of hundreds of executive orders – flying off the presidential desk – evinces a man on a mission, with a goal, what Aristotle termed ‘telos’, an end or purpose. To fulfill that, Trump has in good measure what Plato called thumos – spirit, the energy and courage to overcome obstacles, and not back down in the face of opposition.
We might also put this in terms of the virtue of industriousness, of which Pope John Paul II speaks in his encyclical on human labour, Laborem Exercens: The capacity to work, to stay on the task at hand, and see it through to the end.
Trump promised to do certain things, and those certain things are getting done. By their fruits ye shall know them, and let’s look at some of those fruits.
- Taking the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, compromised by its commitment to ‘reproductive rights ‘- abortion and contraception – and its mishandling of the Covid crisis
- The one flag policy on government buildings. No more multi-coloured ideology flapping in the wind alongside the Stars and Stripes.
- Pardoned and ordered the release of the numerous pro-lifers, jailed for standing up for the unborn.
- The same with the protestors of that fateful January 6th, who were denied due process, disproportionately sentenced, with many kept in solitary confinement for years to await trial.
- Has made illegal the surgical and hormonal mutilation of minors under the auspices of ‘transitioning’. Incalculable and irrevocable damage has already been done, but best to stop this Island of Dr. Moreau madness now.
- Decreed that there are only two ‘genders’ (more properly called ‘sexes’), male and female, and that the use of ‘preferred pronouns’ is now forbidden on any federal letters or documents.
- Reinstated the Hyde Amendment, forbidding the use of taxpayer funds for abortions.
- Cancelled the Biden administration’s shipment of 50 million condoms to Gaza refugees. That would have been one way to reduce their numbers.
- Commenced the deportation of violent illegal immigrants back to their home countries to deal with them, and taken steps to secure the southern border. A nation without borders is not a nation.
- Threatened to impose tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, to stabilize perceived trade imbalances, and to get them to secure their own borders.
- The great purge of the ‘swamp’ in Washington, firing compromised officials in the Army, FBI and other agencies.
- Reinstated military personnel, with full pay, unjustly fired for taking a stand against the mandate mRNA ‘vax’.
- Cancelled DEI initiatives across the land, which will hopefully ensure those truly competent will be hired, and not on the basis of some ideological criteria to fill arbitrary quotas.
- Cleaning out the Augean stables of USAID, revealing a near-bottomless labyrinth of grift, waste and ideological corruption on a global scale. It’s like a prelude of the general judgement.
- The same with the Department of Education, which the federal government has mismanaged for decades. Not surprising, having the federal government regulate every school, class and curriculum in the land undermines the very notion of subsidiarity.
There’s lots more. Trump has signed at least 200 such executive orders, and counting. Perhaps not all of them are ideal, and may not produce the effect desired. Sometimes, things doth go too far and, in accord with Newton’s third law, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. A friend from America likened this time to those heady days just before 1862, and all that implies. (see Jonathon van Maren’s recent reflection).
Trump also is a bit of an enigma. It’s difficult to trust anyone in government, especially after the past few years. There are warning signs, in his – and Vance’s – support for IVF; and that Melania Trump expressed her support for abortion during right before the historic vote in November. He has blind spots, and his own ultimate agenda is unknown. Perhaps he is as altruistic as he seems. After all, he could retire anywhere in luxury, without the burdens of office, not least at his age. I suppose there is the human desire in an ambitious man to leave a mark, a legacy, and, as they say, make history.
Given the past years – decades – of inertia, malfeasance and ideological infiltration, this is a good start. We receive, and rejoice in, what good there be.
Meanwhile, we here in Canada have a paralyzed parliament, prorogued by Prime Minister who refuses to call an election. Barring that, Trudeau will soon be replaced by another Schwab acolyte, who doesn’t even consider himself Canadian, in thrall to the WEF, WHO and ‘climate change’, compulsively obsessed with eliminating ‘carbon’, who will cripple whatever’s left of Canada’s economy to do so.
Might Trump sign a 201st executive order, for the U.S. to accept sane Canadian refugees from ideological insanity?
Ah, well, we can dream. For those of locked in this cold, dark Narnian winter up north, it’s still pleasantly surreal to see reality so vividly imposed upon the fake world in which we have been forced to live for far too long. As Sheryl Collmer puts it in a recent article, there’s a feeling of Oz-like technicolour in the air, in what was a dreary, drab grey. May some of that drift up here, Deo volente.
I might not put it so effusively as Mrs. Collmer, even if I do share in her hope for this world, the form of which is passing away. For Trump is but an instrument in that far bigger eschatological picture, as we move through history towards the fullness of time and the perfection God intended from the beginning. Only Christ can bring the full splendor of truth into this darkened world, but He uses whom He wills, in ways that are mysterious and wonderful. But we must cooperate with His work, so let’s get to it.
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